Got 2 days to drive around in Rayagada district in Southern Orissa, amongst the poorest 3-4 districts in India. One could not but admire the great strides Roads have made in the region. Govt also seems to have made a lot of progress thru residential school for tribal children which seem well maintained (I saw 3 of them within 20 km stretch). A few takes and lessons.

1 Our first stop was a plantation nearby under the aegis of co-operative group. while the increase in tree growth was visible due to better farm practices, what was not visible was the government funding agencies which recoil at the first sign of trouble. If risk aversion is the primary motive, development initiaves in such societies at the brink of economic existence will all fail. The Government has to take a more sanguine view – the farmers are never going to take advantage of legal loopholes a la a kingfisher nor dodge a bank manager, if he is solvent. if he has the money he will pay. counter party moral hazard is likely to be the lowest.

2 I met the farmers (slide 11) but it was a difficult conversation. My Hindi was not good currency; the accompanying colleagues’ local oriya was only a passable currency. Thank god we have one language across India. I asked the farmer in saffron T-shirt upto which class he has studied. He prevaricated but signalled something to the locals which was translated to Sixth Standard. (But barely convincing). The man in green T shirt seemed to own 2 plots. With some difficulty we could figure out it must have totalled 3 acres. I asked him what class he has been upto. He signalled to the first one and said something to the effect – to the same extent. (I couldn’t believe him either).

3 Visited the training centre of local SHG which had trained itself in book binding hoping to get some contract jobs in the local banks, factories and shops. (see the videos and the group conversation). We are not just short in financial inclusion alone. Of the sample of 20 i saw, none had been inside a train, only one had been upto class 10, 19 out of 20 did not know 3rd table, only one had gas. Surprisingly none of them had worked in NREGA. 2 claimed to own cell phones (but they all knew what i was talking about) and 2 others cycles. All had electricity and claimed that they toilets.

But i was deeply touched by their guilelessness and genuine warmth. The meeting had been arranged with just 15 minutes notice. They gave a locally made flower bouquet and coca cola (to everyone).

4 Many villages seem to be independent land locked republics within India. I could only with difficulty hold myself from asking if they knew that they belonged to a country called India or that it was once ruled by Moghuls or british and that it has got its freedom. (I did not know if it is lawful or will be deemed instigative; hence i stopped). But as you can see from the video they had very little to do with India or its development. The only ‘Indian’ they seemed to know was Naveen Patnaik.

Villagers (see slide 5) in this tiny hamlet had erected a bamboo toll gate and refused entry or exit unless we paid their toll. Toll collectors were 2 young girls of may be 9-10 yrs. There were chawls on the side each having rows of houses sharing walls with others on both sides. each such house would have been around 10ft by 10. I could see 3 or 4 ladies sitting inside and 1-2 hanging outside besides the children baking themselves in the sun. I could see a solitary hand pump, the cemented platform around which served as a open bathing spot for a village adult in full view of all those who cared to see.

5 We wanted to visit the solar pumpset which was to be inaugurated to supply water from below 200 ft to some 26 acre of land. we reached the spot at around 5 pm but found a group of people (nearly the population of the entire village) walking towards a spot very near the solar system, with 2-3 of them carrying what looked like spears. Later i learnt/saw that it was for the pre-marital prayer to thier chief temple/diety (see slide 3). After their modest prayers were over they perhaps ascertained from our guide the purpose of our visit. (Our guide knew the villagers since we had sponsored the project). There was quick confabulation amongst the villagers. They took some time off their routine to give me a ululating welcome (local custom) and performed an impromptu folk dance for me. (see video). Meaning i was told ‘bahooth dhoor se aaye hai our guest; lets welcome him’. Nice of them.

6 On the way we stopped by a hostel schooling tribal children. (see slide 4). I started asking the most grown up looking amongst them (the one to my right and the one in yellow T-shirt). But they were hardly able to speak but were stoic. the care taker intervened to say that it was their first day in the school and where they have come from and circumstances; I had difficulty preserving my tears within the countours of my eyes.

Some lessons:

1 The region is poor and crop mainly cotton, hurhur, millets and in some places Rice. Recently they have added tree plantation to their kitty. Area is rain fed which imposes its own limitations.

2 False pride is good: Although efforts from several CSR activities, govt initiatives, etc seem to be on the area is largely illeterate. You can get a sense of what they mean by literacy in the video of SHG group. The men in slide 11 claimed they had done upto class 6 or 7 before dropping out. I doubted both. But on reflection found that kind of ‘false pride’ a welcome sign. It only indicated that thay have accepted that education is a desirable end state and they are craving for a better end state than they currently were in; this desire and higher aspiration is a prime requirement for any development initiative to succeed.

3 Thank God for Hindi: The areas were hardly 12-30 kms from the district headquarters. Imagine that we had not integrated India with one language formula – with every district and sub district speaking different dialect or variations and so much time and effort lost in translation -it would have been a massive waste of national energy. (Thank God we have saved ourselves this much at least due to proper actions on independence). Our politicians have done somethings right.

4 Can Roads and Connectivity alone achieve progress: I have been visiting nearby places for the last decade. The roads have come up very well. Most village roads are concretised. The times on most roads, district, sub district and state highways have become 1/3rd and it is much more certain and lot less damage on your spine and vehicle parts. Communication connectivity has also improved greatly. Most villages have someone or the other with cell phones. The progress in literacy and living standards seem nowhere commensurate with the progress in govt infrastructure. (guess not even 15-20%). We seem to be miscalculating the linkages between the 2. (I am not saying these are not important; but how much they are able to use them at this stage is questionable. Looks like a 25 terminal airport for 2 flight landings a day). Roads in most parts seem ready for the next 25 years. (see the photos).

Government may need to work on assessing the skill levels of each village and work on each village to boost their income. The focus has to be on increasing their ‘marketable surplus’. (elaborated later).

TV in each home (still a pipedream in many villages) and programmes for social change, advisories on agriculture, personal health and hygiene will all serve great purposes.

Gas seems economically misplaced. The payment for Gas goes out of the village system whereas the fire wood they were using was ‘manufactured inside’ the village boundaries. (this needs to be studied and validated)

5 There is great potential in increase in crop yields. Our scientst told me that soil should be so prepared that the loosened soil should just about envelope the aura of the root system. It will enable the root system in absorbing the nutrients and fertilisers without running off. Tight soil wastes them on top and loose ones enable run off. There is different requirements for different plant species but most places in India resort to uniform ploughing. Soil nutrients are different from place to place – may be even within the same village. Fertiliser and nutrients have to be adjusted accordingly. He claimed that such care alone can improve the crop yields (physical or financial) by about 60% in India.

The villagers also require better linkages to the markets (for many of them the universe ends at the village boundaries and their Government is the Village headman). Such increased linkages with partner end user corporates will bring them better technology, softer credit, better information, opportunity to add more value (like sorting and grading, washing and preparing them for markets and these can sometimes be significant 30-40% of mandi values) at village level itself. Government need not relax land ownership rights at all; just more facilitative of contract kind of farming will do.

6 Corruption to me seems a secondary issue in these places. For most of their transaction with the ‘outside’ world they need transactional interpretors who can (and do) take them for a ride in every possible way – be it in religious conversion, NREGA money distribution, freebees from government, etc. It is this that they have to be liberated from first even before corruption.

7 Trapping more income inside is essential at this stage: One of the villages had an electrical repair shop repairing fans, TVs, motors and pumpsets, and lighting earning Rs 4-5k per month. In most other villages this amount is paid to external people. Govt has to analyse such possibilities of retention of income within village as well enhance values of what they sell outside and prepare them for newer activities like vegetable growing, fishing, water harvesting, solar panels, sanitary pads making (may be for a few villages in the nearby areas), poultry and milch cow raising. This requires external help and may be investments. Government can rope in retired civil servants, local students, corporate and wealthy individuals as Village development sponsors and draw up a village level development plans and guide these villages along the path of development. India has just 6,00,000 villages.

8 Compared to what the individuals, NGOs, judiciary and media and voluntary systems have achieved, the work of the government in these areas is so far starkly ahead, at least in the last 10 yrs. The remedy of our constant carp may be redesigning the election systems so that it becomes lot less expensive and faster administration of punishment for political misadvantures. What can u achieve from a justive system which passes judgement on disproportionate wealth accumulation after 20 years and after the person has died). If these 2 can be addressed and we give the politicians some space, perhaps we can make faster progress.

If judiciary and Lawyers can together ensure that delivery is not derailed and delivered within 2-3 months for cirmes, crimes and thefts etc might even vanish. Even Politics will become a lot cleaner. Will our Lawyers accept the challenge. In fact the media should also concentrate on exposing lawyers who delay justice infinitely by misuing their priveleges.

9 India should perhaps have gone for European type co-operative model of corporate existance than English and American type Limited liability company types. We are high social animals and more susceptible to social policing and peer pressures than top down relatively more impersonal legal governance, audit and rules based systems, court trial and punishment systems. social pressures would have achieved the end result at a far reduced cost. (may be, I am foolish, but when no one can prove it otherwise let me take some liberties in being expansive).

It is 45 years since I visited Rishikesh last. My memories were of floating wood logs, young boys and girls with tins tied to their back jumping into the river learning to swim, and boat rides when even as a kid I could stretch over and touch the cool waters of the new born Ganges. The promise of 4.58 hrs in Google as average travel time was tempting, so we chose Rishikesh as our week-end outing destination when my niece and nephew landed up. In the end, we spent the weekend, shall I say, trying to ‘reach there’.

We had our lunch at Ramdev’s ashram (or more appropriately his mini republic in the making) near Haridwar at around 4 pm… on the recommendation of our driver, who always recommend places that fit their standard of hygiene and cleanliness or where they get their food free. Sometimes they kind of force that choice on you. But in this case it must have been more due to affiliation and reasonable prices.

His establishment on the right side of road looked massive, huge herbal gardens, what looked like factories, and Patanjali research centre, Yoga centres, etc following one after the other. The food courts housed with some other facilities are on either side of the road just outside Hardwar towards Delhi. We saw a fleet of cars and buses parked inside the campus (thank him for they were not spilling over onto the roads. He seems to have skillfully estimated his following or having established the facilities created the requisite following). There was a milling crowd even at the time.

Most of the crowd was middle age – people who looked between 35 to 60 years – hardly any older ones (i could have counted them on my fingers), with their young ones in tow. I saw the same kind of devotion or urge in their eyes as when i go to India’s religious places like Tirupathi, Siddhi Vinayak Temple or SriNadhwara. Except here there was no God, it is more Ramdev. He seems to have become a sort of a messiah for the low income or low-middle income class. They were not chanting his name like in Trirupathi, but the vibes in the air was clear.

I may not be able to put a finger on what exactly his USP is – but it is not just religion: it is something more. May be they feel left out by the political process or that their lots have not improved as much in recent years as that of others. Or they are feeling culturally betrayed and need a new sense of identity. Or the rest of India has tried to fast forward traditions beyond what this class is comfortable with and Ramdev is the best bet to put the much needed speed breakers. There seems to be a huge vacant space of serving which marketers and political parties seems to have missed which he is serving which should account for his popularity.

I may not be conclusive – it is not just religion or yoga alone. Or just product benefits, aroma, taste, medicinal value, or environmentality, superior packaging. It seems much more, much different. May be Ramdev knows or may be he himself does not know but has per chance hit upon the magic, like sometimes you succeed without knowing the reasons for your success. He would require a lot of de-coding. His products are a huge succees and I reckon that even if he were to put Patanjali banions and underwears, they will become instant hits. Such seems to be the sense of affiliation in the Ramdev Republic.

Now on to the food. The food itself was tasty – better than Ammas kitchen (Chennai), or Brahma Kumaris (BK) or Sri Sris (SSR), or Tirupathis Anna Prasadam (free). Reasonably clean.

While i was waiting for my turn to pick up my Thali, the man ahead started an argument with the counter server. It was about the quantity of Rava Kesari (Sheera) in his meal. I thought it was alright but he was arguing it was less in comparison to his predecessor’s. It filled the steel saucer alright but still the man kept arguing over what perhaps would have been 2-3 gms difference or perhaps the shape it was served. I don’t know what gets our (all Indians and I stand at near the head of the queue) worst guts out when it concerns food. May be long years of seeing starvation around and many of us would have liberated out of that only recently and embedded memories and psyche remain. Finally when the man behind counter obliged him in sheer frustration, the customer walked away with a smug (or triumphant) smile on his face.

Even while the drama was unfolding at my counter there was some heated exchange at the other. The customer was insisting that the kichdi be packed and the counter man as explaining that there is no such system. With each denial the temper was shooting up. The man behind counter turned around and asked his colleagues if there was some such system. Finally he lost his cool on his own ilk and ‘why don’t they tell at the counter itself that we don’t pack food’. And some mild adjectives to describe their mental state, etc. He was at his wits end … about to become one of the ilk that he himself described moments back. Finally he served kichdi to the brim on the plate (just that it wasn’t spilling over) and sort of threw the plate at the customer. I felt sorry for the counter server. I thought it was too much of a sampling error (2 in parallel) what i noticed. But if true, i suspect I may not last that job more than a couple of hours. Poor man from the interior or upcountry area in search of a daily living by serving people … we can be sympathetic or sensitive to each other a lot more. This is where i find Buddhist countries far more evolved.

I had been to Ammas kitchen a year or so back. They served too much of kichdi. I tried reasoning (when i argue with the counter clerks, i call it reasoning, pl note) i was imply incapable of eating their serving … it may last 2-3 sessions etc. and that she could serve as I deem full. But she said that she had to serve 275 gms (or 375gms) as the board announced and nothing short as per strict instructions, and that i could throw the excess if so desired. Some such similar disciplining happens in Tirupathi as well (they won’t serve anything in side cups or rasam and Butter milk in tumblers – impossible). I realised the value of standardisation of serves after seeing the quarrels.

A simple board announcing ‘No packing of food’ and just keeping a weighing scale near the counter and mentioning the size of serving (gms) would have quelled both the ‘Beja Frys’ I thought. In both cases, my sympathies were overwhelmingly with the counter salesman.

Rating wise Ramdev’s food was tastiest, Tirupathi service quality the best (for the volume they handle anything less would be chaotic in no time), and for overall experience Ammas kitchen stands out. Ramdev must be recovering full cost at least and others don’t.

Whatever it is Ramdev Baba stands for or preaches, he could also teach them some basic courtesies, politeness, respect for rules and queues and sensitivity towards others. I have not found ground level sensitivity being taught at SSR, or BKs either. The 11 year old boy at Ramakrishna Ashram who showed me around in 1994 near Trichy was dignified and self assured. I wonder if they have such programme. He could have a huge impact. They all have raw love – if i fall ill on the road or down with an accident these are the very same people who would most likely rush to my rescue, not the priests of polish and outward politeness – it is the just the briefing which may be the missing link. Ramdev may be the best placed to bring about that welcome change.

May be he could teach them some basic hygiene, cleanliness and lessons on littering. They could become a million walking advertisements for his enterprise and convert a lot of the as yet unconvinced.

When it comes to Cars I was a bit like Madhuri Dixit who claimed that ‘it is just a device to get me from place A to place B – nothing besides’. Yes she does look for comfort but does not care that much for looks, prestige, colour, gizmos, etc. It was the same with me … but only till recently.

My first five cars were hatchbacks from Maruti and Ford. I must have spent a total of fifteen minutes in selecting them – cumulatively that is. Initially there was no other choice as one would have had to deal with Ambassadors or ‘on the way out’ Fiats. Choice was about the colour alone.

My last car was a Toyota Altis. I was sort of told what to buy by my employer and so i went to the showroom and looked at the car for about 15-20 minutes mostly to familiarise myself with its features. The only choice was the colour and by that time i had had 3 blues, and 2 whites and so was sort of bored with those colours. I selected Grey.

Three – four days after i took possession, i happened to meet my boss at the office park. He asked me how my car was doing. I told him that i would have rather taken a Wagon R or repeated my earlier Ford Fusion (FF) both hatchbacks and comfortable to sit. FF also had a thicker gauge of metal so wasn’t really a problem with minor dashes and kisses while parking, so frequent in Delhi. He did not relish the answer at all. He said, ‘No. You should get a good car you see. It is necessary’. He seemed to convey much more than what he said. Guess he had played a part in upgrading my values to make it affordable even if I was otherwise ineligible.

That was my last psychological engagement with Altis. 5 years of trouble free running, faithful servant, i slowly got used to sedans and the low seating. I always preferred the high seating hatchbacks or SUVs. In fact SUVs are too high to get in and out and Crosses are better. I had never measured the mileage, never bothered to do up the minor scratches, my driver had to remind me to change the perfumes (in fact he only bought them), the garage fellow will tell me to change the tyres. The only thing that i did get worked up about was eternal cleanliness. Any deposit of delhi’s dust for more than a day would send my tempers up. I finished 5 years but was not really looking for a replacement when suddenly the break pads started giving loud noises, was not reliable any more while breaking. The workshop had started warning me in the last two visits over six months.

It was time to change the car. By this time i had seen some of my colleagues graduate their cars … significantly up to Audis and Mercs. I thought i should spend some time and make a properly researched, well informed, decision after comparing all available choices and not rush into any decisions or feel left behind.

So began my search. In the 3 months that followed i would have visited several garages of Honda, Hyundai, Toyata, Audi, Merc, BMW, Jaguar and Land rover, and Porsche (not that i could ever afford one… but gave me a nice feeling that i can get into their showroom), and Marutis… some at 2-3 different places. Spoken to 2-3 recent buyers of high end cars to get their take, … a close friend provided with a comprehensive comparison sheet of all such cars.

My first dream was the curvaceous Camry. Or the spacious Honda Accord. Someone who knew me well had suggested Santa Fe. I was told Accord has been withdrawn in India for sometime. Went to the Hyundai next door and had a look. Although i did 4-5 trips in the next month or so to get an additional car – i10, i was not impressed with their reception at all. Their complacency showed : there was 3-4 months waiting for most of their cars. I would have almost bought the new Creta if it was available off the shelf. But the minimum wait was 4 months. The beautiful Camry – my true infatuation – had given way to the feature rich but extremely geometric and boring design. One look and i decided that the lady had become wiser with age but not more vivacious. Toyota was also much like Hyundai … not too bothered. To get a test drive of Camry i had to visit them 3 times. Finally promised and when i reached apologised that they had only a car to show but not to drive … great customer care!

Then i started with the European/German Cars – Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Jaguars. All great to drive and almost read your mind to drive but i was still hesitant on the value – money proposition till i talked to my friend of mine, a CEO of an Auto component MNC. Just a decisive sentence, ‘German cars are German cars. Don’t even entertain any doubts. It is the ultimate driving pleasure’. That done one more round, this time with prices included.

I asked my driver to chat up some of the other drivers and give me a feed on Audis. He came back with ‘people are saying there are issues with their service, Sir’. That more or less sealed its fate. I am surprised till date how so much information search and experience did not make up my mind in certain respects but a single minute 3rd party ‘expert’ feedback closed my mind on one of the dominant choice. About BMW i took some feedback from a friend, ‘Have no doubts my dear friend, don’t even have second thoughts’. Again that sealed by choice decisively ultimately. Regarding colour one of the many salesman i met remarked on my favourite Red, ‘Sir, its a beautiful colour no doubt, but your eyes tend to get bored with it in six months, and you tend to get sick with it’. That more or less sealed the colour choice for me. Mercs showroom was staid and somewhat non caring i thought and there was no sense of urgency about them. In any case the back seat width in most of their models is too narrow – I can barely place my bums, i thought.

The car arrived and it was looking gorgeous in my garage slot. Two more than middle aged business ladies who live in the same building and have never spoken to me in the past 10 years came and complimented me on the new car especially the colour. And so did some drivers in our office with some well meaning gratuitous advice on how to take care of it, etc.

After 3-4 days of gloating over it, the discomfort of getting in and out of low seating sedans was beginning to singe. I am most comfortable placing my foot flat on the floor of the car… but then the low seats don’t allow that unless you have your knees almost level with your chin. You have to stretch your feet if in front seat. Without anything to rest my foot firmly, i felt that any sudden breaks i would slide down my seat and the discomfort of resting the weight of my foot on the heels of my shoes…

To incentivise, I had told my driver that the new car is expensive and every scratch will cost me a bomb and if at the end of the year there is no scratch on the car he will get one month’s additional bonus. He is not exactly race track ready but i have never had any issues: he is as fast as any ‘stick to your lane’ driver can be. But nowadays he is a unsure wreck – looking in 32 directions every now and then before he pushes ahead.

My Ford Fusion was a bully – with its thick gauge i was not afraid of the autos, or two wheelers or other cars. I would just nose my way in, honk and elbow out others and create my way. These days when i am at the wheel, i am afraid of every auto, speeding car… motor cycles and even cycle rickshaws, nervous that they may come and kiss my vehicle… DTC busses are a menace …and in general the lower the value of the other nearby vehicle the more my scare. I have caught the virus of looking over, ahead, sideways, rear view mirror… from my driver.

And a few days into my purchase, my car was stuck somewhere and i had taken a ride with a colleague on his Ciaz. A high seating sedan, I could firmly root my foot, there was all the electronics one could think of… the rear cameras, navigation, voice recognition … big boot space with Stepney properly hidden… it appeared a superset of all features I had noticed in all other cars. All at 1/4th the price… cheap price the thing that makes most Indian mouths water the most. And my sense of regret was complete.

Conclusions

i want to convey I have bought a ‘luxury’ (according to me) car and arrived in life. (Even if i didn’t say this, most readers would have concluded anyway that it is the only purpose of this article. So why should not i get the pleasure of saying it myself instead of starting with being defensive).

Choice does not necessarily bring welfare, Dr Amartya Sen. You got it wrong. Some of the most happy people i have seen, come from the poorer communities, nations, neighbourhoods, families… wherever there is a sense of brotherhood, trust, stability of things, relatively stable balance of things with others/neighbours/colleagues including income and wealth, etc. (I don’t want to include ‘success’ in that category and contaminate the rest. It seems to be a bigger pollutant of happiness than wealth).

I think the more the choice of goods available and we see them all and analyse each and every feature (obviously no single thing that offers all that everyone desires) the mind constructs a super set of all features at the same measly price i paid and starts suffering in comparison. Absence of choice may not have led me to these desires in the first place. I don’t know if Einstein, Chaplin or Rockfeller or Russian Czars would have ever regretted that they didn’t have the latest iPhone or Jaguars or such like. It seems so simple: ‘what the eyes don’t see… the hearts don’t grieve’.

Mostly objects seem to have some high ‘utility value’ so long as they are not in our hands and the moment it comes into our grasp (or after the first use) its utility seems to plunge so steeply. The fall seems inevitable …only the rate depends … so perhaps the saying ‘a satisfied desire can never be a good motivator’. So we see divorces after 56 hours, 56 days or 8 months… objects bought with so much urgency or passion etc lying unused in our cupboards or show cases for long un-opened, books lying unread, etc.

Lets not get things mixed up. There is nothing wrong with the vehicle. It has delivered almost on all parameters it claimed. 17 km per litre is a steal on diesel … it is less than ½ the cost of travel by auto for similar distances. It packs the power of a well built mid-fielder and has the languorous grace of a David Gower or Lionel Messi. At normal speeds it stalks like a tiger on the prowl and when required it lunges forward at will like a feline hunter which has decided on its particular kill. So overtakes and high speeds are not a problem if you have the stomach.

It is more my core need which is to be seated with knees bent like when you are seated on your dining chair or office chair. It is the most comfortable position for me and that’s what my previous cars have ensured. When the seating gets low and i bend my knees only half, it is uncomfortable, although i gather low seating makes for a lot better stability and balance on highways and on turning. Once this is compromised i think our psyche starts screaming which only grows with time on you. All other benefits and conveniences features and comforts meekly surrender before it. I am sure the core may be different for different individuals. Unfortunately quite often i am not able to figure out what the core is exactly before the inevitable or irreversible decision or event or purchase and use.

When i see Audi SUVs these days, the mind starts wandering … would it not have been a better choice…the comfort of high seating… being able to put my foot down firmly flatly, … so what if they had put a lower engine (same as in Skodas and VWs), I am not going to be racing; so what if the service is bad, the car is not going to be in the garage every day; should i have blindly relied on the Driver’s advice, shouldn’t i have thought about it myself… my mind has now to fight every reason it used to reject it in the first place.

Oh! Come on. ‘But then the Audi’s front grill looks like the smile of a lady without her two front upper teeth, grinning from ear to ear. However beautiful the face, the smile – the ultimate embellishment/jewel on a human face, on such a face always looks horrible’ this is my ego defending my action. My ego the only true friend i have … never ditches me… always springs to my defence unlike my friends, wife, siblings, teachers, relatives, colleagues, et al who all ditch me for logic (the stupid logic) sometime or the other, sooner or later. Even if i were to commit a murder one day, i am sure it will still stay thick with me and be a judge who always rules in my favour.

There is the core need and there are the peripherals. I think the speed and levels of satiation, frustration or disgust or boredom depends perhaps on how far out from the core the peripheral need is. With some core needs may be satiation perhaps never sets in or sets in ever so slowly like a biological process.

Finally, with all this wisdom i am still not sure if i will get my next decision right the first time. Should i have researched more. Perhaps yes. But then more knowledge is what seems to have led to dissatisfaction, discomfort and regret in the first place … so what will it achieve but the opposite. May be lack of choice leads to more happiness … but i am not sure if i am there yet. But it looks like the absence of too much external stimuli and temptations by way of alternatives enables me to discover and stay close to my core need. Or discover myself better. If true i pity the rich… poor souls!

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We have recently started plantation activities in south western Myanmar – Ayyerwaddy state. We had to plant seedling and clones this rainy season. Typically for our plantation trees 1’x1’x1’ pits are ideal. Bigger ones are like babysitting your child till they are 35 years old – a sure way to spoil them. The roots should have it easy for the first few days and after that they should work towards fortifying their hold themselves – that’s when we get optimum results (or so I have been told). Continue reading →